Life of a Magician
by Dindella
Summary: Could it be? A second Ishtar family? You should believe it. The Pharaoh's returning for round three and he needs help! Can these two young children with the help of "The First Ishtar Family" possibly help the great Pharaoh Atemu save the world again?
1. The Other Ishtar

Chapter One: The Other Ishtar

It had been a month since the men destroyed little Mahado's and mine's home; taking everything that they could. Maha and I had managed to save the silvery items we call 'The Items of the Century,' when in reality they had been around for five thousand years.

We were currently in the desert by this time--of course, for that was where are home was--but, the one different thing about this certain time, we were alone. It was just little Maha and me; together with no one to guide us. Our whole family that we'd grown up with was dead and we were about to have our very first taste of civilization.

Both of us were crying, when suddenly we heard a strange noise. "KA-CHING!" It came from a tent. Mahado and I both stopped crying and went to investigate. "KA-CHING!" We blinked and stared in amazement at this little red box that this green flat stuff was being put in. How could it make such a noise?

"Thank you once again for the purchase, Mr. Ishtar," Said the man behind the red box. That's when I noticed the man with dark tanned skin who was wearing a light tan. . . itunic that wrapped around his legs and didn't cover his stomach or back/i but it did cover his chest. He also had what seemed to be naturally grey hair, but I couldn't see his eyes, for he was facing the man behind the red box.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ishtar, sir," Little Mahado spoke up. "But, you're an Ishtar, too?" The man turned around to face us both. "Yes, I am an Ishtar. And who might you be?" Mahado was silent, for he was only five years of age and was not used to other people outside our home--nor was I, but that's beside the point! I was nine and, so, I had to be the brave one. "We're family," I said, suddenly speaking up.

I know it isn't much, but please review/comment/critisize and what-not. - I hope you have enjoyed. 


	2. The Seconds and the Ancient Profecy

Chapter Two: The Seconds and the Ancient Prophecy of Mahad

"Family? You have to be kidding me. I've never heard of anyone outside of our lofty home being family and you don't look anything like me," Mr. Ishtar told us in shock. "No, no, no," I told him with the shake of my head. "We don't mean as your children! Our family has ties with one another from 5,000 years ago!" Mr. Ishtar swallowed, then tapped me to go outside. "We should go find Ishizu and Odion," He told us.

"By the way, my name is Marik. What's yours?" Mr. Ishtar said as we started walking to our unknown destination, then he looked at us. "I'm Megan Ishtar and this little boy with the shoulder length brown hair, who looks like those pictures of the Dark Magician, well, his name is Mahado. You know? After our five thousand years of great Grandfather?" He looked at us confused, then noted the items that we were caring on us.

I was wearing the Key of Centuries around my neck, holding the Scale of Centuries in my left hand, and I was carrying the Eye of Centuries in the pouch my mom had made me--that I was conveniantly wearing on my right hip. Mahado was wearing the Ring of Centuries around his neck, was carrying the Rod of Centuries in his right hand, and wearing the Necklace of Centuries around his neck as well. In Mahado's handcrafted backpack, on the other hand, was a box filled with silvery peices of a puzzle that was yet to be solved.

"We are who is called 'The Second Ishtar Family,'" I explained. "Like you were suppose to guard the Pharaoh's name for his first return, we guard the Items of the Century for his second visit back," Marik blinked. "The Pharaoh? Comming back? But, he went to the afterlife! If he comes back, then--"

"No! You'll be free still. . . us, seconds, will take over for you,"

"Why would you be taking over?"

"Because, as Mahado himself swore to protect the Pharaoh, his last wish to his love was to bear his child and raise it to protect the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh had recieved note of this and later the silver items were discovered, along with a profecy. That profecy puts us, the seconds, in charge during his second rebirth,"

Marik hardly noticed as a woman with black hair and blue eyes called out his name. "Marik? Marik?! bMarik?!"/b She called out for the third time. "Huh?" He replied, then looked at her. "Ishizu!" He replied. Ishizu ran over, and soon, so did a man with a dark tan, a bald head with only a poiny-tail of long dark hair in the very back of scalp, and markings all over the right side of his face (Author: I believe that's the correct side, but correct me if I'm wrong).

"Marik, who are they?" Ishizu asked Marik. "They are Ishtars, like us," She gave him a weird look. "Our family tree ties back to them from five thousand years ago," He gently tapped us forward to stand infront of Ishizu and the bald man. "They're 'The Second Ishtar Family,'" The bald man was stunned, as was Ishizu. "'Second Ishtar Family?'" He asked, how is that possible. Marik looked over at the bald man. "It's confusing to me, too,"

Megan and Mahado sighed, then in unison they spoke:

"The life of Mahado was given to thy Pharaoh as a gift;  
Blade ended the magician's life, harsh and swift.  
Leaving mother to child, he vowed to protect;  
To suspect;  
And to save those he cared for, with but one wish.  
As he swallowed down his tears like a fish,  
Thee Magician had quietly spoke With a choke:  
'My love, please raise my child to protect thy king; thy friend,  
With loyalty and pride until his or her own end.  
Remind thy child of his or her's father every morning; of his vow,  
And how He died. Tell thy child the stories of the past, educate him; guide him;  
And stand beside him.  
May he or she guard thy Pharaoh and thy Pharaohs 'til thou child's own dying breath,  
Then join me in the heavens at last'  
Thee magician's wish came more than true, as items had been thus found.  
Silver they were made, opposite of gold;  
Were sold To thee Pharaoh Seto in the late morn.  
Ra visited him that night and Seto was heart-torn,  
At the thought of his cousin, so he gave them away.  
With the Second Ishtars they stay.  
The Great Pharaoh's return is not once, but twice;  
The second shall be a hardcore fight.  
The five-thousand years of Great Grandchildren of Tom will be free,  
When the Second Ishtars come around the sun to see.  
With the help of the seconds and some magicians returned,  
An eternal light shall be relite and burned.  
For fade,  
Not the days,  
When weather is wet;  
The childrens' souls can end this unfair bet." 


	3. Guardian Shaadi and a Promise

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH! IF I DID, THEN MAHADO WOULD BE HUMAN FOR AT LEAST FIVE EPISODES AND THE DARK MAGICIAN WOULD BE THE MAIN CHARACTER! And I don't have to own Yu-Gi-Oh to love him. - Mahado: Too true.  
Dindella: -Huggles him-  
Mahado: -Sighs and shakes his head slightly with a smile on his face, plus a blush-  
Dindella: I would like to reconize two people! The Duelist's Heiress, as my first reviewer EVER! :D And RebelMewPheonix as my second reviewer EVER! You two are awsome! Thank you so much!  
Mahado: Thank you two, for you make us both feel good about ourselves. But, mostly just her, though.  
Dindella: -Blushes- Too true. . . I'm such a nervous wrek. . . . . /\/\ TO THE STORY!

"How do you remember such a prophecy?!" Marik exclaimed in amazement. "How old are you?" Mahado and I smiled slightly, taking the questions as a compliment. "I am nine," I replied first. "I'm five," Mahado replied happily. They stared at us for a bit. "Besides learning how to read and write as our first lessons, we have to learn that prophecy. Both of us are already learning magic," Little Mahado explained. "We barely managed to save one of the old books," I said to complete my little brother's statement.

"What exactly happened to the rest of your family?" Ishizu asked. Mahado and I both looked down in sadness and shame. "They. . . they were murdered," I replied. "Mom and dad sent us away with the items and we took a magic book barely escaping death ourselves," Mahado finished.

"Who attacked you?" Odion braved asking. I looked up to reply. "A bunch of masked men in black coats," There was about one sundial of silence, then: "I see," Marik said with sympathy in his voice. "Come children," Ishizu spoke up suddenly. "We must find a safe place for you to stay. Maybe with us, because you're family?"

Mahado and I smiled slightly, then nodded. "That would be nice of you all, Ishizu," Mahado told her. They led us off somewhere, it seemed to be hours before we reached there if you considered how tired my brother and I already were. We'd been walking for days already, some rest sounded really nice.

It was a small, clay-like house with two square windows and a rectangular door with some kind of clothe drapping down the door from the inside. "Shaadi!" Ishizu called walking in. "We're back," All of us followed suit behind her. The house was cozy and much more homeful than the underground, though I had to admit I missed it all. "I wish mother were here," I said softly.

Suddenly, a man in a tan sacred cloak and white cape walked into view from absolutely no where. That made me jump slightly. He was tall--almost as tall Odion, had soul-deep blue eyes, a slightly muscular figure, and a turbin-like thing placed on his scalp. If you looked carefully you'd notice the brown hair down by his ears, but it didn't take a scientist to observe the serious look on his face nor the surprise one that seemed to mix in with it.

"You've brought two children here. . . who cary the Items of the Century?" The mane named Shaadi asked and closed his eyes. "That means the Pharaoh's return is near, very near," His eyes opened again to a softer expression. "Come here, Magician's Childs," He kneeled to with his left side closer to us and his left foot pointed towards us as if we were the Pharaoh ourselves. "You are the family of the Pharaoh's best friend and loyal servent, Pharaoh Seto had asked me about 5,000 years ago to take care of the propheted children. You are the chosen ones, so my vow shall hold it's end--even if I am a wondering spirit, you should know very well that spirit's have their own abilities. Am I correct?"

After a few moments of silence from us all, Mahado and I both nodded and replied "Yes," at the same time. We smiled at eachother, Mahado and I, we were all we had left of our side of the family. 'I promise to protect you, little Maha. . . just as you've protected me. I know I've been a coward, so it's time for me to make it up to you,' I thought to myself.

Shaadi seemed to await us to stand him, I waited a bit to test my theory, then smiled. "Shaadi, you may stand when you wish. There is no need to bow to us, it isn't right. Though, you may be bound to serve us in ways, there is no need what-so-ever to bow before us. We are simply you're friends," I told him asurably. He smiled slightly before he stood. "Very well then, child," He replied calmly. "And may I ask of your names?"

Mahado and I sighed, sort of wishing our names were just slabbed on the prophecy. Repeating it over and over was getting quite annoying really fast, for we knew more would ask in close time. "I'm Megan and this is Mahado; I am nine and he is five," I told him. Shaadi observed our names for a bit. "Megan doesn't sound very Egyptian to me," He finally comented. I sighed. "Our father was from what he calls 'The Americas,' and I suppose that's where my name came from," I replied. Shaadi thought about this for a bit.

"Seems reasonable enough,"

I smiled gently at him and tried to hold back a blush, if I was older I might have kissed his cheek. Mahado elbowed me playfully and I giggled. 'He knows me too well,' I thought. 'He sees my crush on this Shaadi-guy right through me,' I smiled down at Mahado, which surprisingly didn't seem that hard. Mather and father, Grandma and Granpa, Aunt Anuha and Uncle Mahudu, they still lived inside our hearts. It took me a while to relize, but I supposed that was only natural. Besides, I still had family. . . Marik, Ishizu, and Odion. 


	4. A Big Crush and Shaadi's Vow

Dindella: I put the disclaimer last chapter and I'm not doing it again.

Mahado: Why?

Dindella: Obviously, if I already said I didn't own it like two hours ago, then I don't own it now.

Mahado: Good point, but if an of you own some stocks. . . would you care to share?

Dindella: Especially, if you own some stocks for Mahado.

Mahado: But I'm already here with you, why do you need stocks for me?

Dindella: Because, my camera doesn't work, so hopefully the stocks will have pictures of you on them. :D

Mahado: Whatever.

Dindella: -Giggles-

Mahado: Why a crush on him anyway? Don't you LOVE me or something?

Dindella: I do, but Shaadi's not so bad character--not to mention I like him a lot, too. Sure, he may be mysterious, but if you look past that, then you'll see a kind, sweet, sense of humured gentleman who used to be known as Shaada.

Mahado: --' And?

Dindella: First of, I'd like to say that this chapter is dedicated to my friend Hope. Her real name is greek and is pretty, but she brings me hope, so Hope it is.

Mahado: And she likes Shaadi.

Dindella: But, nevermind us talking! ON TO THE STORY!

Chapter Four: A Big Crush and Shaadi's Vow

"Come you two, you should take a bath and get some sleep," Ishizu said, gently nudging us towards a strange room. She gave us both a blanket that was slightly bigger than we were. Mine was pink and Mahado's happened to be indigo, like the Dark Magician. I smiled happily with my 'big, bright violet eyes' as my mother use to discribe them. Mahado's eyes were a violet-brown, but like our father's eyes--which were blue--in some shades of light there happened to be a blueish tint in them. We both had brown hair, but mine was curly and to my waist unlike Mahado's straight shoulder-length locks. The robes we wore were ripped, torn, slightly bloody, and dirty. The blood was a mixure of Maha's and mines own, as well as our Mother's, for she had hugged us minutes before she had died. I held back my tears as I pulled off my robe--underneath wasa pair of underwear (she's not old enough for breasts yet); it hurt me for I was in pain in many ways. There was the physical pain of small knife cuts and deep, dark bruises, and then there was the emotional and mental pain; my mother made my robe for me.

Ishizu turned some sort of knob above a large oval shaped bucket and somehow water had began to run from a little cave that jutted out of the wall and curved downwards. I cocked my head in curiousity. "It's called a faucet," She explained. I blinked. "How does it work?" I asked, walking over to investigate. She giggled. "It's hard to explain, Megan, but you'll understand someday," She told me and I just smiled in reply.

After getting us nice and clean, Ishizu wrapped us up in a 'towel.' Marik walked into the room as she was drying Mahado's hair with another towel. "I brought you some of our old robes," He said, as I noticed the nicely folded bundle of clothe in his arms. "The smaller one was mine, so I'm giving it to Mahado. I think it'll fit him," Marik slightly lifted the clothing drapped on his right arm, then set it down to leift the left arm's buddle. "Ishizu's might be a little big for you though, Megan. I couldn't find one for when she was just about your age. She was eleven when she started wearing this one," He told me. I just smiled for a bit before nodding. "Thank you, Marik," I replied gently.

"No need to thank me, Megan. We ARE family after all,"

"It's still nice of me!" I giggled in reply. Marik smiled. "Such manners," He said. "Wish I had those when I was little," Ishizu giggled slightly at what Marik said. "You had plenty of manners, Marik! You were just curious all the time," A slight laugh from all of us.

After Mahado was all dressed and as was I--Marik was right, it was slightly too big for me--Mahado streched and yawned, then rubbed his eyes with his tiny hands. I followed his yawn. "I'd agree," Marik stated after me--also giving a yawn. Ishizu yawned as well, then rubbed one of her eyes with her wrist. "It's time we all go to bed, I suppose," She commented. "We have a long and hard journey ahead of us, I can feel it,"

"By the way," Marik stated out of blue. "What are those made of?" He pointed at the items. "The Egyptian Gods made them in hopes of balancing out the evil of the Millennium Items, but they made the Centuries too powerful," I told them, then Mahado nodded and quietly jointed: "That's why King Seto gave them to our family after Ra spoke of his cousin in his dreams,"

"His cousin?" Ishizu asked. Mahado and I both nodded, then at the same time. "The nameless king,"

"He does have a name,"

"We know, but aren't allowed to say it,"

"Why?" This time it was Marik asking the question. "The seconds have known his name since the High Priest Mahado's era, but we aren't allowed to say it until he's finally here for his third return," This made Ishizu and him blink. "Then how do you know it?" Ishizu asked suddenly, Mahado and I sighed. "We have a tradition of adopting at least one child," I said, then Mahado finished. "The adopted one is the first child the parent has. That child learns his name from the last adopted child, then later grows to take the role as teacher. Because, he or she isn't a blood relative, he or she can say his name without breaking outh,"

"Ohhh," Marik and Ishizu both replied quietly. Finally, Marik's sister stood up and gave us her hands. "Come children, it's time for bed," We took her hands and followed her outside the washroom. "I want to say goodnight to Shaadi," I told her softly, Mahado chuckled cutely. "Of course, I suppose he is in the livingroom," I smiled, then let go of her hand, walked down the the hall, then peeked into the livingroom. Shaadi was just siting there on some sort of chair made of clothe with his eyes closed. Knowing that spirits don't exactly sleep, I supposed he was either pretending to be asleep or just deep in thought.

"Shaadi?" I asked, staying where I was. His left eye opened. "Hm?" He asked; his other eye followed then he looked over at me. "Megan?" He stood up quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't notice you! Do you need me for anything?" I blushed, then giggled slightly before walking completely into view. "No, Shaadi," I said, giving him a smile from ear to ear. "I just wanted to come here to say good night," He blinked a few time. "Oh,"

I giggled again, noticing his embarresement. "It's okay, Shaadi," I told him softly. "No need to feel embarressed. After all, I did wake you from your thoughts," He smiled at me slightly, or if you'd consider his expression a smile. Spirits didn't have a large range of expressions they could use and most of them were difficult to understand, because wondering spirits--unlike ghosts or just spirits--wander around speaking in complicated riddles to be decifered and solved, they also could eventually pass on or if liked enough by the gods and willing, they could even gain a solid body for completing all their tasks before finally passing into the afterlife. Spirits were hard to understand, but most of them were quite friendly.

"You'd like to say goodnight to me?" He asked quietly. "Why, no one has ever done that before," My blush fluttered deeper to my smile and I smiled shyly. "Really?" I asked, he nodded slightly. I walked over to him and he kneeled down to be at my height. "You're hair smells of fresh herbs, I suppose?" He asked me with a chuckle. I smiled a little more, then nodding. "Ishizu loves that shampoo and it seems she was so happy to share it with another young lady, a much young lady might I add," I giggled a bit. "Shorely, I cannot smell, but Ishizu has describe it's fragrence to me. Her description was almost as confusing as my riddles,"

I laughed a little and Shaadi picked me up. "I am glade to have finally met you, child," He told me. "As selfish. . . as it might sound, my patience for the afterlife is shrinking to the size of the population you might find of dessert toads," I smiled shyly. "I can't blame you, Shaadi," I replied. "You've been through so much; I feel for you," Shaadi pet my head with gentle, warm hands--despite not being alive, spirits, unlike ghosts, felt warm to the touch.

"Thank you, Megan," Shaadi told me, I gently snuggled under his chin and yawn. He chuckled, then began walking somwhere. After a bit--I was mostly asleep by then--we were apparently in the room little Maha and I were staying in. Shaadi set me down on something soft by another warm, breathing object. "Good night, children," He said, covering me under my pink blanket. "We have a tough journey ahead of us and you need your sleep. But don't worry yourselves. . . Megan, Mahado; chosen childs of the greatest real magician in history. . . for I, Shaadi, the wandering spirit of the High Priest Shaada, swear by the true name of the Great Pharaoh, himself, to protect you if it means giving up my very existance," I heard a strange sound as I went to sleep and supposed he was standing. "Good night, children, and thank you, Megan. You're very sweet to me. . ." 


	5. Finally Family Over Breakfast

Dindella: Thank you so much for the reviews everyone!

Mahado: She was beginning to feel unabilitated in writing, because this story has been up for awhile with no apparent readers.

Dindella: O.o Who taught you that word?!

Mahado: Which one?

Dindella: -.-' "Unabilitated." Is that even a word?

Mahado: I don't know. Look it up in the Dictionary.

Dindella: Don't have one at this exact moment.

Mahado: Theasouras?

Dindella: Lost it.

Mahado: -Anime faint- Xx' Why don't you use the internet?

Dindella: During this message, Mahado. . . it isn't working.

Mahado: Oh.

Dindella: After it is, though, I'll look it up for everyone.

Mahado: :) That works.

Me: Yes. . . . TO THE STORY!

--

**Chapter Five: Finally Family Over Breakfast**

The next morning I had woken up to the smell of meat cooking, eggs, and fine bread. Mahado stretched out suddenly and thunked my forehead with his wrist on accident. I blinked and stared at his wrist on my forehead for a little bit. "Mahado," I said. "Hm?" He asked sleepily. I giggled. "Your wrist is on thy forehead," A few moments of silence. "Oh, sorry, sis," He said as he removed his wrist and sat up, with me following his last action. We'd both hoped it was just a dream all along, but it wasn't. Mahado layed his head against me and began to cry, I hugged him in return while trying to contain my tears. "It'll be okay, little Maha. . . they're still with us, you know?"

"But how sis? They're dead,"

I smiled at him, then gently turned him to face me and put my left hand over his heart. "In here, little brother. In here," I told him with tears streaming down my eyes. He looked down. "You're right, sis. . . but it still doesn't make up for their appsance or their eyes or their loving touch," I sighed, for that was just as true. I hugged him again. "They're with Great Mahado now, though, Mahy," He cuddled against me more. "Yeah, but I still miss mommy, Meggy," I sighed, then sniffled. "You and me both, Maha. . . you and me both,"

"Megan!" Ishizu called from another room. "Mahado! Are you two awake?! Breakfast is ready!" Neither Mahado or me felt hungry after what had happened, but we hadn't eaten for at least three days. We turned face eachother for a bit, after a few seconds I whiped little Maha's tears away for him with my new robe's sleeve. He smiled at me. "I love you, sis," He said. A tear dripped from one of my eyes. "I love you, too," We just stared into eachothers eyes for a bit. Both of us probably having the same thoughts. . . we both knew we were what was left of our side of the family, we both knew we were vertually alone. No one fully understood how we felt. . . not revenge, but pure sadness and much fear. We missed our mom and our dad, we missed our Grandparents, our steps, and all of our aunts and uncles.

Suddenly, Marik came to the doorway. "Are you two okay?" He asked. I realized we were both crying once his voice rang out. "Yeah. . ." I lied quietly, but in a way I was okay, so it was partial trueth. I had Mahado still and we were both alive. Sure, we were scarred with the memory of lossing our family we had known for so long for the rest of our lives and we were both afraid of the journey ahead of us, but in the end I was sure it would all be okay. Marik cocked his head worriedly. "You don't seem so okay," He said finally. "You were both crying,"

I smiled up at Marik. "Our whole side of the family is dead," I told him horsely. "It's hard to take," I looked back at Mahado and put my hand in his. His little violet-brown eyes sparkled happily for some reason. I smiled at him, then crawled down off the tall and soft rectangle we had slept on that night. Afterwards, Mahado bravely jumped down. I giggled as he landed around my neck, then I spun around on my toes in a complete circle, before huggling him close. "I'm so glade that you are my brother, Mahy," I told the bundle of joy around my neck. "I don't known what I'd do without you,"

Mahy smiled looking up and into my eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you either, Meggy," My smiled grew into a diamond, then I gave him the biggest feind-hug I could without hurting him (Author's Note: A fiend-hug is a bear-hug. They've never heard of or seen a bear before, so the referance to a bear just isn't in her vocabulary). Mahado laughed happily, so I spun around twice more then fell on my butt. Mahado, Marik, and I were laughing; Mahado and I were happy to be alive and together, Marik was just enjoying the cuteness of it all, obviously. "Come on you two," He said through gasps of laughter. "Let's get some food in our stomachs!"

Mahado and I nodded at Marik, before picking ourselves up and running over to the teenager. I grabbed Marik's left hand and Mahado grabbed my free hand, I giggled happily. Marik carefully turned around and brought us to the kitchen that was attached to livingroom Shaadi was in the night before. I began to blush at the thought of him; Mahado noticed and laughed knowingly while looking at my cheeks. Ishizu placed several gold plates down on a large square table made of lumber with several seats around it. "That table sure is tall," I said, eyes wide and looking up at it. Odion and Marik chuckled, Ishizu giggled. "That's what we have chairs for," Marik told us, then picked me up and put me on a chair. Mahado was put on the chair next to me, but he was just a little too short. "Hhmm. . ." Marik and Odion studied the pardicument carefully. I took little notice, but waited for Mahado's solution. "The book we managed save," Mahado said suddenly. "If I sit on it, I can reach the table top!" I smiled. That was the same thing I was going to suggest.

Marik nodded and left to get the book, while waiting I looked around the room. "Where's Shaadi?" I asked. Suddenly, a voice rang out out of no where. "I am nearby child, don't worry. I'd never stray too far from either of you," Shaadi appeared beside me suddenly, making me slightly jump--I wasn't use to that yet. After a few seconds, I blushed and smiled up at him. "Good morning, Shaa!" I called out happily. Shaadi chuckled. "Came up with a nickname for me already?" He asked distantly. I nodded proudly. "How kind of you," To some it might have sounded sarcastic in a way, but no one had ever given him a nickname before either--I could tell by the look in his eyes. His voice wobbled slightly to sound indifferent, making it seem as though he ment what he said in another way. The strange thing about wandering spirits that always made me wonder, was how only began speaking riddles when something bad was happening--even if they didn't want to, it just came out that way.

Wandering spirits have little to do, so even though friendly--as many spirits are, most wandering spirits have little to none when it comes to sanity. Shaadi was an exception to that rule. If he was anything, he was just lonely and distant. I smiled up at him with sympathy. "I take it you've never had a nickname before either," I stated. Shaadi's eyes came back to the present, but his look never changed their seriousness and gentleness. "No, I have not had a nickname, not ever," He replied sadly, then there silence for a few moments. "May I be exused, children?" Shaa asked suddenly. "I am a spirit and cannot eat. Watching others do so is too painful for me to handle, even if I cannot truelly feel pain anymore. It still hurts,"

I nodded at Shaadi. "Go ahead, Shaadi. It doesn't bother us," Mahado was the one who spoke. Shaadi politely leaned over with one hand behind his back and the other in between his chest and diaphrame, then he leaned up, dropped his arms, and left. Mahado and I both blinked as Marik came into the room finally with the book in his arms. "I found the--what was that all about?" He asked comming to the table. Little Maha and I shurgged. "No idea," We replied truethfully.

Marik picked Mahado up, set the book down on the seat, then set Mahado down ontop of the book. My brother could finally reach the table, I giggled at the thought of him trying to stand on the chair and eat at the same time. Marik, Ishizu, and Odion finally sat down at the table with us. After a bit, I picked up and object beside my plate that was a golden handle with three gold prongs. I examined it. "That's called a 'fork,'" Marik explained. "You use it to eat yours eggs," I blinked, then deicded I'd repeat it's name. "Fork," I repeated a few times. "Fork,"

I wasn't a bit egg eater, I never really liked them, but the very smell of the food--dispite my appetite--reminded me of how hungry I was. With difficulty, I used the fork and tried my hardest to enjoy my food, but neither goals came easy. Mahado wasn't having as much luck with the same task either, but, now that I think about it, I'm sure if he was even trying to enjoy the food. I think he just wanted it to fill his stomach, so that we may continue our magic lessons with the other Ishtars later.

After about two plates, Mahado and I slowed down a little, we were beginning to take hold of conversation to get to know our newly met family members. "So, um," I said. "What was it like growing up where you were?" I asked, the other Ishtars looked at eachother with mixed expressions, then back at Mahado and I who were gazing at them expectantly. Ishizu took a nervous bit of her egg. "Well, um, maybe that is something we should tell you later," She replied after swallowing. I blinked, then cocked my head in curiousity and sadism. "Why?"

Odion sighed. "Marik's and Ishizu's mother died on the day that Marik was born. Their father wasn't very nice to any of us," This made me blink and Odion must have read my mind. "I'm adopted,"

"Oh,"

A smile from the thre of them. "Do you know any magic?" Mahado asked excitedly. The strange Ishtars blinked, then Ishizu shook her head. "The only magic any of us have used is that of the Millennium Items," Mahado and I both were disapointed at that. "Oh. . . okay," Mahado responded sadly. It was then that we relized exactly how different Tom's children had been raised into Marik and Ishizu's generation. For the longest time, Mahado and both thought that the Firsts would be a lot like us. The difference between Tom's children and, us, Mahado's children were quite different, we had come to realize. It was more than their eyes and their hair that was different from our side and generation of Ishtar living that made them different, it was also their ways, their traditions, and their knowledge. The Firsts were rumored to have been locked away before us, so that was the only way I could think of how they could be so different from us Seconds.

As strange as it sounds, the fact that their side of the Ishtar family was so different made me feel so much closer to them. I felt more like a part of the whole family, instead of just my half. I understood their differences, including in knowledge, and in many ways took note that they were more inteligent than Mahado and I was. A painful, yet soothing pin of respect went through my heart. It was time to truelly be family and stop living as just the opposite side of the same golden coin. It was time to start living on the same side of that coin! And, I was more than willing to start trying to do so; sitting there at the opposite end of the table to not only with my new friends, but my other family's side. Mahado and I had a lot ahead of us, so we needed all the love, help, and support we could get. Family. . . was indeed the key to success.


	6. The Great Mahado's Spellbook

Dindella: No new reviews yet. :(

Mahado: Dindy, chill out. . . it'll be a bit. Not all of your readers may be on yet.

Dindella: / Okay. . . . -Huggles-

Mahado: -Sighs-

Dindella: This chapter is dedicated to my friend, Shiney. . . remember girl: YOU RULE!

--

**Chapter Six: The Great Mahado's Spellbook**

After breakfast, I got down from my seat, walked over to Mahado's seat, and helped him down. Mahado was so much braver than I was, which made me feel a little ashamed. He had almost been killed because of me, because I was too scared to move. And, my little brother must have read my mind. "It wasn't your fault!" He exclaimed defencively.

"Yes, it was!"

"No, it wasn't!"

"You almost died 'cause of me!"

Mahado began to cry heavily at what I said and the other Ishtar's just stared at us in confusion and unsurity. "It wasn't your fault, sis! I had a choice to let you get killed or not and I chose to save you!" I began to cry as well. "Then, why? Why save me?!" I shouted loudly.

"Because I love you!"

"But, you loved mom, too!"

"Correction, I LOVE mom! But, out of loyalty to our family and to the profecy it was my duty to save us both!"

Mahado's statement hurt me so badly I might have thought that someone had stuck a boney needle right into my heart, then ripped it across the muscley flesh. Tears dripped from my eyes rapidly and though I hadn't seen rain yet, I already felt as though that was what was running out of my big eyes, going down my cheeks, and rolling off my chin. I turned and ran to the bedroom, only to be stopped before I got to the hallway by Shaadi who appeared out of nowhere in a kneeled position. He caught me in mid-run and held me close.

"Calm down, child," His voice came to my ears with such gracefulness and gentleness, I imidiatly calmed down slightly, or at least enough to just stay in his arms. "Your brother didn't mean it in the exact way that he said it," I looked up at Shaadi and into his eyes, my own eyes were already swollen and red by salty tears. "It. . . it still hurts," I murmered quietly for only only Shaadi to hear. He began to rub my back lovingly, like my own father use to do when I was sad. I began to cry some more. "It's okay, child. You've been through so much and you are so young, but you are very strong--you and Mahado both--and I believe that you can do what it is you need to do," He told me.

I looked up at him and he gently placed one hand behind my head. "And what is it I--we--need to do, Shaadi?" I asked. He smiled. "For now, my child, you must practise and strengthen you magic like your ancestors before you. You two are the most powerful of your family, but your full potential has not yet shown. You must be careful or it could get out of control if not attained to," I though about that for a bit, but did not fully understand--at first.

Mahado walked over slowly, then put his hand on my shoulder; startling me. "I'm sorry, Megan," Mahado told me. "I know," I said gently, then gave him the best smile I could. Shaadi let me go after a few seconds and I hugged my little brother. "You didn't mean it how I heard it, Mahy," I gently rubbed my head against his like a cat. "It's okay, because I could never truelly be mad at you," That made little Maha happy again. "Thanks, sis,"

"You're welcome, brother. You're my everything right now. . . you know?"

"We're all of our side we have left, sis, and I feel the same way,"

Marik walked over suddenly and kneed down to hand me the magic book. "You should study and practice your magic," He told us. "We might not be any help to you, but I'm sure your 5,000 years of Great Grandfather is very proud of you," We smiled at Marik, then turned to face him. Mahado tried his best to hold the heavy book in his tiny hands. I laughed and picked it up from Mahado before he fell over. Little Maha was grinning from ear to ear. "You're so strong, sis!" He exclaimed. "I want to be as strong as you someday!" I smiled at him gently.

"You'll be twice as strong as me when you're eight," I told him with a giggle. Mahado smiled. "You really think so?!" He asked and I nodded. "Yes, of course, Mahy!" Marik was chuckling as was Shaadi, who was standing at his full height. "Race you to our room, Megan!" Mahado exlaimed, then began running down the hall. "Ah, to be young as they," I heard Shaadi. "It must be great to have real legs to run with,"

"I win!" The little bundle of hyperactive energy that I call my little brother exlaimed, jumping up onto the soft rectangle we had slept on the night before. I giggled, before struggling to get up. "Cheater, you're not carrying anything," The little violet-brown eyed innocency laughed. "True, true! But, I didn't say there was rules to our race, now did I?" I giggled. "No, you didn't,"

After a little bit, we braved openning the book. We weren't sure if we had managed to grab the right one and hadn't studied the cover yet--our goal was to retrieve our Father's book. Mine and Mahy's eyes opened so wide after read the hyrogliphic name on the books cover--"Mahado Ishtar." The book was old, much older than any of the books we had studied by with our father. The book, the book was special and something we never knew we even had in our family collection of spell books--the Great Mahado's spell book.

Little Maha slowly reached out and as if in a trance began to trace the very name of the magician he was named after. I watched in pure amazement that we had grabbed the very book of the great one and the fact that Mahy traced the symbols perfectly with his fingers was all but strange. Suddenly, we both were blinded by a light of several familiar colors--purple, blue, indigo, and green. "You summoned for me?"


	7. The Great Mahado Himself

Dindella: I like chiffies! They leave me hanging on ropes! WOOT! :D

Mahado: That was random.

Dindella: But true. They leave me wanting more.

Mahado: Snorts

Dindella: :D To the story!

--

**Chapter Seven: The Great Mahado Himself**

"You summoned me?" A voice said. Finally the light disappeared and before us was the Great Mahado himself in Dark Magician form. As his feet touched the ground our stunned eyes had to quickly adjust to a new light--a bright white light; brighter than I had ever seen. The light slowly faded though, and my eyes blinked to adjust to the normal light. "Megan?! Mahado?!" Several voices called, but I couldn't pinpoint who's at that exact time.

When my eyes had finally adjusted, before me and my little brother was a man that looked exactly like my Mahy, but older. Much older; maybe 25 years of age or a little under that. I was frozen in shock for who knows how long, but the man stood above us; curious and proud. "Ma-Mahado?!" I asked, suddenly realizing I was holding my breathe. "Yes?" The olderman asked as my little brother asked "Huh?" and both looked at me at the same time.

The man who looked like an older version of my little brother stood there confused in his royal white tunic and cape to his ankles, with large golden shoulder pads, a unique belt I can barely describe, anclets, and white slippers. He was even wearing a white headress with golden prongs, khol on his eyes with a unique zag under them, and twelve total golden bands on both arms--five on both of the lower arms and one on both of the upper arms. Little Mahy's eyes wandered to the figure before us, before his older twin.

"Whow. . ." Mahy said, standing up on the bed as if to be taller. "He. . . he looks just like," The older man blinked. "Me," The older Mahado finished for my brother.

"Are you?" I asked, the man looked at me. "Yes, I am the High Priest Mahado Ishtar, brother of Tom," I could have fainted right there. . . .

--

Dindella: Yes, darn it! I know it's short! :(

Mahado: She can't multitask, so she'll write a little more tomorow.

Dindella: Author's Promise!


	8. Dark and Low Self Esteem

Dindella: I made an Author's Promise, so now I'm full-filling it! LOL!

Mahado: So, let me get this straight. . . you watch TV for the commercials?

Dindella: Yes.

Mahado: Strange. . .

Dindella: I know, Maha.

Mahado: :) Good.

Dindella: Alright, so the reason each chapter may come out different is that the main computer is like. . . corrupted or something, because when I use WordPad on it the document transforms into NotePad after I save it. My laptop I have removed NotePad for that reason. . .

Mahado: She's too lazy to pull out her laptopt right now.

Dindella: AM NOT! I have to be in this room for an important reason that's not to be discussed over the internet.

Mahado: --' Whatever.

Dindella: 'Unabilitated' is not a real word, but because Mahado used it it now is.

Mahado: Strange. . .

Dindella: TO THE CHAPPY! :D

--

Chapter Eight: Dark and Low Self-Esteem

There was several gasps heard, when suddenly Shaadi spoke. "Greetings, Mahado. It has been a long time, my friend," The Great Mahado turned to face Shaadi. "Shaada?" He asked. "Is that you?"

"Yes,"

The Great Mahado gasped, then looked at his own left hand in exasperation. "It seems I have been changed back into my human form, though I am completely absent as to why," My little brother bravel got down from the bed, walked over to his older twin, and looked up. I forced myself to be gutsy and followed his tiny footsteps towards the what seemed extremely tall man.

The Great One looked down upon us. "And who might you two be?" His gentle and kind voice asked, as he kneeled down. "I'm Mahado!" My little brother shouted with his eyes glittering happily up at the man. The Great One smiled and chuckled slightly. "I see, so not only do you look like me, but you are named after me as well," My little brother nodded to prove Mahado correct.

"And, who is this?" Mahado looked at me and I almost lost my knees--I was such a nervous and scared wrek. "I-I-I'm M-Me-Megan!" I replied shakily, which told me I was indeed shaking when needing to speak. "That name does not sound familiar in my Egyptian vocabulary, but in my American toung it does. I suppose your father might play a part in it?"

My little brother bounced up and down a bit. "You know our father?!" He asked. The Great One looked down upon his younger version with a smile. "Yes," Was the reply. "And don't worry, the whole family is on your side," A smile pierced both of our lips.

"Now," The Great One stood up to face the First Ishtars, then gasped in shock. "Isis?" He asked, Ishizu looked into the violet-brown eyes of the man who was looking into her. "No, Great One," She replied. "I am Ishizu," The man's eyes faultered. "Oh," He said. "You look just like her," Ishizu cocked her head slightly.

Great Mahado's eyes suddenly came back to the present as he focused on each other figures in the room one-by-one before looking at my brother and me again. "You all may call me 'Dark,' as to prevent confusion between young Mahado and myself if you oh so desire," We all nodded.

Dark kneeled down to study Mahado and myself again. "I hear that both of you are quite powerful, but neither of you can use it very well nor control it," We both nodded at the older figure who smiled brightly with the same eyes that my brother contained. "Well, than. . . I suppose we should start with the HOW in our situation," He told us; the two us blinked at Dark in confusion.

Dark sighed and shook his head with a smile. "In other words, let's begin with HOW I might have gotten here," He picked Mahado and myself us in opposite arms, then stood up and walked over to the bed. Mahado sat down before placing us both on his lap. "You know," Dark told us with a distant look in his eyes. "I never met either of my own children before they died, only afterwards," He looked almost sad.

I gave Dark a sympathetic and confused look in one. "But, I am also happy in a way," He explained gently. "My children had completed my wishes with honor and loyalty as have both of you," Little Mahado's eyes had not yet stopped glowing up at the man. "So we're all good kids," Dark chuckled. "Yes," The Great One replied. "You're ALL good kids,"

"Now," Dark Magician said suddenly, his expression staying soft but taking on a firmer hold. "Tell me, exactly what has happened. Tell me everything that you remember, your first memory. . . to now,"

Mahado and I told our stories to Dark, who seemed very delighted to learn more about the both of us. I was the only one who was afraid to speak when I had to, which made me feel ashamed. I knew I should be excited to meet our Great, Great, Great, Great, Great times a thousand Grandfather, but I was a real scaredy cat and I was ashamed of myself.

Shaadi stayed in the room, whilst the Firsts went to tag up and make lunch, especially with such a visitor around. "You are a lot like me," Dark told little Mahado with a kind smile that had gone as far as his cloud-white teeth showing. I was sort of jealious and upset that Mahado was getting more attention than I was, though, he was named after Dark's true name, so it kind of was to be expected. I felt left out really, Mahado made his lessons seem so exciting and worthwhile, while I reduced myself to silence. I felt ashamed of myself really, it just wasn't Ishtar to be scared, quiet, and shy. I had to skip some facts in my stories when I shared them; some facts that even my little brother didn't know about. I was lectured all the time to try and be a better Ishtar, I was told I was too shy and too scared to be an Ishtar. Many times, I even had to fake being outgoing by hanging with Mahado to aviod being tossed out by Uncle Aduhada.

I was ashamed of myself and I was almost sure that Dark was ashamed of me as well. For one, I was scared of him when I had to confront him even though I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Secondly, I wasn't as outgoing as any of the other Ishtars and the amount you are willing to speak is an important Ishtar trait. Third, I had never believed in the prophecy until the day our family was murdered. And, last but not least, I almost lead Mahado, my own little brother, to his death. It was my fault, and no one could convience me otherwise.

"Megan, what's wrong?" A voice asked me suddenly, it was Dark. I couldn't speak, for I would be more ashamed to lie to him. 'What should I say?' I thought. My eyes twinkled sadly and then Mahado spoke. "My sister blames herself for everything that has happened," I looked down quickly, covered my own mouth with both hands for apparent reason, and refused to make eye contact with my brother. 'Why?' I thought in my head. 'WHY did you tell him that?' I asked myself. It was shameful for Second Ishtars to blame themselves for something that wasn't their fault and Mahado's statement was more than true!

Dark studied my reaction. "You shouldn't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault," He told me. I didn't responed, I didn't look at anything but his knee, and at that time. . . I just didn't want to exist at all. 


	9. The Ishtars' Special Ability

Dindella: WOW! :D I'm on a roll!

Mahado: Yes, so let's get the ball rolling! :)

Dindella: Yes, but first I'd like to say that I have found another wonderful anime besides Yu-Gi-Oh, Inu-Yasha, and Yu Yu Hakusho1 :D

Mahado: That would be?

Dindella: Ginga Densetsu Weed!

Mahado: What's it about?

Dindella: It's about the son of Gin, Leader of the Ohu Army! :) He goes on his quest to find in father, gets named Weed, and then gets into lots of "trouble." :D

Mahado: Great, now. . . are you forgetting something?

Dindella: The theme song?

Mahado: Anime sweat drop

Dindella: Ohhh! ' That!

--

Chapter Nine: The Ishtars' Special Ability

"Do not be ashamed of yourself," Dark told me gently. I stopped crying suddenly, then looked up at my Great Grandfather who looked quite young dispite how old he really was. "It is only natural to blame yourself when things such death occures upon someone you love dearly," I blinked up at him. "I have blamed myself for countless things that really weren't my fault," He explained.

"So I shouldn't be ashamed of myself for that?" I asked Dark hopefully, yet fearfully. "No, of course not. But," He said--boy, does that word ever scare me sometimes. "You do need to work on pinpointing you own faults and not focus on those that have nothing to do with what you did," I smiled up at Dark. "Thank you, Dark," I said horsely, he smiled.

"Shouldn't you be doing something, old friend?" Shaaid asked gantly from over by the door. "Oh!" Dark replied nervously. "I had forgotten all about that," The kind spirit chuckled. "I figured as much,"

"Thank you, Master Shaada,"

"Call me Shaadi, please,"

"Okay," Dark replied to Shaadi with a nod, then reached over and picked up his old spell book. "Aww. . ." He commented, I looked at how delicatly he held the book in his hands. "It has been. . . so long since I have held my own book in my own two hands," I looked at the book with twinkling swollen eyes. "Have either of you recieved your books yet?" The experienced magician asked, then looked down at us with the same twinkling violet-brown eyes my brother had.

We both shook our heads at the same time. "Hmm. . ." Dark replied thoughtfully. He gently set the book down between us and studied the cover for a bit, as if recalling something from long ago. "How did you summon me? Which spell did you use?" Mahado and I both piered up at Dark. "We didn't," I explained. Dark blinked.

"I traced your name on the cover," Little Mahado explained. "Hmm. . ." Dark said thoughtfully. "The only time I can recall with something like my summoning here happenning was when I discovered that I had the ability to 'summon' members of my family just by going into deep thought about them," The older man told us with distant violet-brown eyes and I could almost swear in the corner of the violet part of his left eye was a curved triangle of blue.

"So you think we have the same ability?" I asked. "Well, curtiantly, the little Mahado does, so I do not doubt that you might have it as well," Dark told us both, but mostly to me. I doubted that I did so much that I almost began to tear up again.

"Tom had the same ability," Dark said suddenly, making us both look up at him again. "Tom was my twin, not just my brother," The experienced magician told us. "The only thing was how different we were. . . his hair was grey and his eyes were a solid plum-color, not only that but his limbs were slightly longer than mine and he had a deeper voice," Mahado and I looked at Dark with curiousity. "The Firsts might have the same ability," He explained gently, but we still wanted to hear more about his brother.

"Come children," Dark said with a myschievious smile, stand up with us in his arms. "Let's go see," Shaadi had his own unique smile on. "Still as prodictable as ever, my friend," The spirit said to Dark as he followed us to the kitchen.

Dark was curious once he got to the room with more modern appliances, but he didn't let it control him. Setting Mahado and I down on opposite sides of eachother--Mahado on the right and me on the left, he turned to face Marik. "Tom's Grandchild?"

Marik turned to face Dark from the 'stove.' "Please, Dark, call me by my name," Marik said giving Dark his left hand--which Dark just looked at confused. Marik chuckled. "Give me your left hand and we'll shake eachother hand, it's a greeting," The grey-haired teen explained. "Ah. . . I see," Dark replied giving Marik his hand and giving the teen's hand a good stern and solid shake.

Marik smiled at Dark. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dark," Dark smiled back as far as I could see. "No, please, Marik. The pleasure is all mine!" Everyone laughed in some form, even Dark, himself--he was chuckling away.

"So what is it you need?" Marik asked after the room quited down. "I need you to summon Tom," Blinks from everyone, but the ones who hung around the 'kid's room.' Dark sighed. "My brother, you're five thousand years of Great Grandfather," He explained.

Marik's very expression showed shock. "But how?" The silvery-grey-haired teenager asked. "Think deeply about him," Dark explained.

"I don't know much of anything about him,"

Dark sighed, then began to explain details about Tom. Some he already described to us, others were just likes and dislikes that Dark's brother must have had. Marik went into thought about Tom, as did Ishizu apparently, for she suddenly stopped what she was doing.

After a few minutes, like before, the room was lit up by lights of various colors--red, yellow, grey, violet, and green. After a few seconds we heard a voice, a deeper voice than Mahado's, but it was not quite deep at the same time. The voice was deffinatly different from Dark's, though.

"Who has called me here?" The voice asked, as the light faded away. We blinked to see a red Dark Magician with yellow patterns on his outfit, with grey hair, solid plum-colored eyes like Marik's, and a green staff. And, just as Dark before him, his feet touched the ground and he transformed into his human form. He wore red for the clothing and silver for the accessories, but it was a lot like the outfit Darkwore. The only big difference between his and Dark's outfit--besides the color--was that Mahado had twelve bands total on his arms, Tom had only ten total.

"Mahado?" Tom asked. "Yes?" Dark replied.

"Where--my Great Grandchildren?"

"Yes," Dark replied. "They've summoned for you, as I must summon for our younger sister," Tom looked at Dark with fierce, yet gentle eyes. "Then, go ahead, because you know that I shall not,"

"Of course you won't, because you are simply jealious that are parents payed more attemtion to her after she was born,"

Tom snorted, then Mahado consentrated and another formation of bright colored lights began to shine--sky blue, pink, yellow, and green. As the lights faded a gentle woman's voice was heard. "Master?" After the lights faded, the Dark Magician Girl--like in the old carvings of the Ancient Ishtar family--was gently landing on the ground. As she landed, the same while light turned her into a human girl with brown hair, bright green eyes, and in a skirt outfit with a headvisor--headress that's only use is to cover over one's forehead and help keep out the sun.

"This is about the strangest and most exciting day of my life," Marik stated. "Well," Ishizu said. "Maybe that's because it's been too long since we've had a family reunion?"

"Ishizu, we lived underground; there was no need to have a reunion, for we were all already there,"

"That's exactly my point Marik," Ishizu replied with a smile. "This is the first to second time we've ever had to meet more of our family," She explained. Marik gained a broud smile. "You're right, sis," He replied. "I think it's time we had a Family Gathering!" 


	10. Family Gathering, Strange Training

Dindella: Sorry it took so long you all.

Mahado: She had a brain crash.

Dindella: DID NOT! My brain still works just fine! . . . Well, sort of. . .

Mahado: Palm to forehead

Dindella: Weedo is so cute! I wish I owned a Bear-Hound. . .

Mahado: -Anime sweat drop-

--

Chapter Ten: Family Gathering, Strange Training

And, so it had all began. It was time to become family once more, but most importantly it was time to train for our destiny--Mahado and me.

Ishizu had set out several golden plates of food out onto the table and some silverware--or goldenware, because it wasn't exactly made of silver, everyone sat down--Mahado on Dark's book again, before everyone began to introduced eachother. "So, Tom, I believe it is?" Ishizu began, Tom nodded. "You are Mahado--excuse me, Dark's--twin?" Tom blinked. "Dark?"

"Yes, brother," Dark spoke up. "For you see, there are two Mahado's in this very room," He motioned at Mahado sitting next to himself before Tom's very surprised eyes. "So, in order to reduce the amount of confusion, I am refuring to myself as: Dark," Tom snorted at Dark's statement in amusement.

"Maybe you should have called yourself: 'Pigstye,' instead of 'Dark,'"

"Tom," Mahado said in a warning tone. I giggled, for they were just too funny to listen to, len alone watch. "You know that I do not like that name,"

"No one asked you if you liked it, Pigstye,"

"TOM!"

"Pigstye!" Tom laughed back, Dark shook his head apparently reminding himself he had a bad temper--as was told in his legend within my family's side of the coin. Mana was laughing like the lost hyena in one of the desert tales my parents once told me. "Master!" She cried through gulps of air and tears. "Calm down!" I was giggling along with her, for I knew this story all too well--the one where Dark fell into a pigpen the very day he was announced a Priest, which was at the age of seven. Apparently, he had a nickname for that accident for quite some time.

After everyone was done laughing, Dark cleared his throat. He was not enjoying himself, with his arms crosses dangerously, his eyes narrowed, and a sweatdrop on his forehead. "Sorry, Dark," I said gently, at the same time Mana said: "Sorry, Master." Dark looked over at us with his expression softening. "Tom, these are my grandchildren: Mahado--who you already have aquainted--and Megan," I blushed heavily. I was embarrased as it was to have laughed at the Great Dark, but to be introduced to Tom was too much. I didn't know his grand children very well, so how was I expected to get to know him?

"Greetings," Tom said simply to Mahado and I both, then he turned to his own grandchildren. "And you might be?" He asked. Marik stood up first. "I am Marik," Tom nodded, then Ishizu stood up. "I am Ishizu," Once again, Tom nodded, then Odion slowly stood. "I am adopted into this family," Odion told Tom, it was surprising how someone so calm could go nervous suddenly. Tom smiled gently. "And, your name?" The Plum-Eyed ancestor asked. "I am Odion, sir," Tom's smile grew. "You may be seated if you wish," The magician said simply. They all sat down slowly.

"As you know," Tom began. "I am Tom the brother of Pigstye. The Dark Magician Girl over there, well, she's that bratt sister of ours who happens to be named Mana," Mahado nor Mana seemed happy about his statement; Tom laughed. I just cocked my head to the side as did little Maha.

After eating, I felt somewhat more comfortable with my family, but the time had come. It was time to train ourselves with our new family! "Megan, Mahado," Dark said, kneeling to our hieght; Shaadi appeared behind him with a smile--or, whatever you'd like to consider his spiritual expression. I blushed a deep, deep crimson. Mahado and Shaadi bothed chuckled. "It is time to train yourselves, children," Shaadi told us; I looked into Dark's eyes to see determination, pride, joy, and a mixture of other emotions.

"You are going to train yourselves through techinics that you more or less haven't even heard of, thus you are going to do as I do," Dark told Mahado and me. "Is that clear?" Mahado's eyes sparkled joyfully, but mine seemed slightly scared. I tried being enthusdiastic, but it seemed too difficult to manage right then.

Dark led us to our room, then sat down on the floor by our bed. "First off," He told us. "Come sit by me," We did as he asked, with Mahado closet to Dark. Dark crossed his legs, closed his eyes, placed his hands on his lap, then took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Do as I just did," He commanded calmly. We did as he had asked.

"Do nothing but listen to my voice," Dark tolded us, his voice suddenly more serious. "Take deep, slow breaths," His voice told us. "Calm your every emotion. Clear every thought. Relax every muscle," It took me minutes just to calm myself, but the thought were harder to control. It seemed take several hours before my thoughts cleared, and much longer to relax all the muscles within my body.

"Now," Dark said suddenly. "I want you to stand without openeing your eyes, without allowing a single muscle to tense, and without thinking about it. Just do it," He told us. "Take your time and do not rush," His voice seemed to be echoing in my mind, I had to control myself not to panick.

"Very good mini-me," His voice sang out happily. "Megan," His voice was suddenly warning and shook me awake slightly as I heard my name. "You are tensing," His echoing voice told me. "Relax," He told me. "If my voice is echoing, then you are doing something right,"

"Do not fear what is happening," He told me. "Good!" His voice sang. "You can barely tell, can you not?" He asked, I did not realize I was standing. "You are now standing," His voice echoed through my brain. "The fact that you are able to stand while completely relaxed tells me you have lots of magic potential, but judging the way you stood up so vigourisly tells me that you are naturally able to use this skill," His voice seemed to be a chorus of happy bells.

"Magic is more than just spells and potions," Dark told me. "It is a very part of your body and soul," His voice echoed into my head like a calm jack-rabbit on a rare, cool desert day. "Not everyone can use their soul or body magic like you can," He continued in a seemingly endless echo. "This ability may come in handy some day,"

I listened to the sound of his echoing voice. "You must practise your spells, but you must also work on your own body's potential," Dark continued. "'Relazed Embarred,' is an old and rare technech of accuring a strong bodily ability, but if used correctly and by the right person it can be used for more," The former Priest of the Pharaoh continued. "You may open yourselves up to the world again, but keep in mind of what I have just taught and told you both," We looked up at him. "What you have just succeeded in on your first try, had taken me months to aquire," Dark explained with a proud smile on his face. "And even I had not profected such a technic, so I don't know more than the basics of it,"

Mahado and I looked at eachother with the same expression. 'We did something that even the Great One himself couldn't do?' 


	11. Prophecy: To Exist Or Die

Dindella: OMG! OMG! GOMEN NASAI! -Runs around in frantic circle-

Mahado: Calm down woman!

Dindella: I left my readers hanging for too long. :'(

Mahado: -Sighs-

Dindella: Please forgive me everyone. . .

**Chapter 11: Prophecy: To Exist or Die**

After our surprise about our magic ability, Dark decided it was time we locate the Pharaoh.

"I don't think we have anything to fear here, for we need the Pharaoh very badly right now," Shaadi agreed.

"Besides," Dark nodded. "Megan and Mahado both know the basics of magic, plus they can make up spells," He looked at us. "Which is very dangerous if you're not careful!" His serious eyes said that entire phrase for him.

"Yes, sir," Mahado replied cutely. "We know. . ."

The Priest sighed. "But this is going to be harder than just building the Century Puzzle, as Shaadi knows,"

The wandering spirit nodded. "He's right, which is why we need to begin our quest now more than ever!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, my blue eyes fearful and startled.

Dark looked at me. "You have the Key of Centuries around your neck at the moment, right?" I nodded. "Well, you need to find the Decades, especially the Lock!"

I was confused, but the priests explained. "The Centuries ended up having too much power—especially with the Millennium Items gone, so Decade Items were created to balance out the deed that made everything uneven. However, now someone or something is threatening this fragile balance, so we need to find negating Decade Items to wake the Pharaoh and all of Pharaoh's court,"

"But you're here!" I argued.

Dark shook his head. "By magical means my spirit has temporarily taken physical form, but my real body—that was put back together and sealed in time—is across a portal that only you two can reach by finding the Decade you're destined for," I blinked.

"Megan, you need the Decade Lock and Mahado you need the Decade Circle," Dark explained. "These items once they wake the right people will negate the power of the Items you wield. . ."

"Then how can we save the world without the Items' help?"

"The Prophecy, obviously,"

"And it means?" I asked in annoyance; I was tired of this!

Dark sighed. "I don't know, but. . ." He trailed off, then walked out the room.

We tried to follow, but Marik came in the room and began to help us pack what little things we had. "Shaadi?" I asked, putting my bag mother made me in a bad Marik was offering me.

"Yes?" Shaadi asked appearing.

"What's wrong with Dark? Why'd he act so upset?"

"For fade, not the days when weather is wet—the children's souls can end this unfair bet," The spirit quoted.

I thought about this for a bit, then got really upset myself. "We could die?!" I cried; Marik and Mahado looked at me then at Shaadi.

"Or worse," Shaadi agreed.

"You're going to risk their souls, if that's what it means?" Marik asked defensively. "Some 'Guardian' you are!"

Shaadi lowered his head and disappeared. I began to cry. '_To sees to exist?'_ I thought. _'That's horrible!'_

(I noticed that in the midst of chapter 10 how I had accidently put "Mahado" instead of "Dark" just now.)


	12. Airport

**Me:** Gah! I hate exams with a passion! –Glances at Mahado-

**Mahado:** Don't look at me—I'm not your teacher.

**Me:** -Glares at him-

**Mahado:** -Sighs-

**Chapter 12: Airport**

What was it about the setting sun that just seemed so lovely yet so depressing? The colors of the sky slowly turned from majestic pink to dark violet as Ra sunk behind the sand; we were leaving for the 'airport' when the first star peeked out, but I did not feel like leaving. I was a pathetic coward and I knew it, but it didn't matter to me anymore. I'd live for Little Mahy, and that was all. If we died or our souls disappeared, at least I had lived doing that, for that was all that mattered to me anymore.

Shaadi's words echoed through my brain again and again, over and over, and I was suffering through hidden tears. I had not seen Shaadi since Marik had made his comment to him, however, it didn't matter for once to me. I was _mad_ at Shaadi and I was _furious_ with Dark—_how could he?!_ The more I thought about it the more I despised them both, and the more I thought about it the more I hated myself.

Why was my life so bad? If I was just going to end up not existing then why exist at all? Why was I alive on the earth? What was the point? Was my only reason for being to save the world? And what of my fallen family? Someone killed them, but _who_? And why? So many questions to think about with little time to think about them; my only hope was that time itself could answer them for me.

I peeked out the window in the children's room and spotted the first star—I sighed. After a few moments I remembered mother telling me about the power of the first star to grant a single wish, then closed my eyes and wished: _'I wish that Mahy and I will find some helpful friends on this quest, and that because of them everything will end okay,'_ Then I opened my eyes with a single falling tear, and nodded to the star in hopes that it heard me.

"Megan," Mahado said; I turned to look at him. "It's time to go, sis,"

I sighed, glancing out the window one more time. I nodded. "Yeah, I know,"

Mahado's cheery mood never seemed to fail him—even if we had a chance of dying—and sometimes it annoyed me. "Well, let's go!" He exclaimed, slipping off the bed. "It's time to explore the world we never knew!" Like _that_—I was holding back my frustration.

"Okay," I said—trying to sound enthusiastic.

Mahado giggled childishly, then ran to get Grandfather Dark, Marik, Mana, Tom, Isis, and Odion. I sighed, then slowly followed. Seeing Dark made it very hard to look at Mahy, because Dark looked just like my little brother—and he acted like him to, well, except the fact that Dark was more mature. I kept my face straight for once—I don't know why I always smiled, whether I was sad or angry.

Dark frowned at me—he felt bad and I knew it, but I had nothing left to care at the time. I scuffed and crossed my arms like a bratty teenager with an expression to match—it was almost comical to see, that I knew from Mahy's echoing, joyful, obnoxious laughter. An embarrassed sweat drop went down the back of my head and I stopped being bratty—Mahado was still laughing.

I shook my head and then tried to act adult-like and leader-like. "We have to leave now or we'll delay ourselves," I said to everyone, but was looking right at Mahy. Mahy stopped laughing, blinked at me, and then gave me an embarrassed look. I sighed. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, of course," Dark said, then picked Mahy up and walked to the door. It was then that I noticed Dark had changed clothes—he was more modern now. Dark wore purple 'pants,' a purple 'short sleeve shirt,' a dark blue 'jacket,' and purple 'boots.' There were also strange straps hanging around his waist and hips—Marik had not explained to me what _those_ were yet. I sighed, as I still had a lot to learn—_too much_ to learn.

With my head low I followed the family leaving the house, then looked up at the stars. A part of me was wondering if Shaadi was near by, but the rest of me was screaming it's hate. I mentally told myself to calm down and reminded myself that as my guardian he wasn't allowed to lie to me and because of his Wandering status he'd start speaking in annoying riddles as soon as things started getting really bad. This made me like Shaadi again—after all, it wasn't _his_ fault that he was the way he was.

We took a ride in a 'camel taxi' and ended up at a huge building called an 'Airport'. The place was a curious looking thing, indeed the fact that it's mouth was a spinning 'door' and that it had huge see-through eyes told me that it might be some gigantic bug creature. I did not like the looks of the place, however, when we went through the doors I forgot all about that—I began spinning circles with the doors and giggling like mad. Mahado soon joined me and it took the whole rest of the party to pry us out and away—which made the two of us very upset.

After that, there was a bunch of awkward routines to take care of before we could 'board a plane.' First of all we had to hand our bags over to this lady who put the stuff on a moving floor that moved into the mouth of some eye-less beast, then the lady asked what the stuff was in my bag and Cousin Marik explained that they were family trinkets. The lady had my 'family trinkets' examined by some tall guys in really tight outfits with fat bellies and bulging muscles, and then after a short argument they were determined as fine and we were allowed to continue on.

Second we walked through some open door spaces that were out in the open for no apparent reason, but Mahado forgot to put the Decade Eye inside the mouth of the blind-beast-with-the never-ending-tongue and so somehow got in trouble when he walked through the door. 'Authorities' came and got us stuck up for a couple of hours with Mahy crying tear-filled apologies—my poor little Mahy, the authorities where very mean to him!

Third, we went over to this long, tall table with more boxes that make the "Ca-CHING!" noises and then these other weird boxes that people kept poking for some reason. Cousin Marik talked to one of the ladies, she tapped the screen of one strange box, he gave her some metal circles, she tapped the noisy box, put the metal pieces in there, and then gave Marik some little pieces of 'paper' with writing on them. Apparently, that's what Marik was referring to as a 'ticket.'

After that we gave our bags to this tongue creature that moved everyone's luggage off somewhere, and walked off to leave the building. I ended up walking ahead of everyone and right into and invisible wall—Marik laughed, along with everyone else, and opened the invisible wall up to prove it was a door. Embarrassed, I promised to pay more attention and be more careful, then walked through the clear door and gasped.

A huge bird with clear eyes took flight, I gasped and almost fainted. What a creature! "Marik?! Marik?!" I asked alertly, and grabbed a hold of his leg.

"It's okay, Megan," Marik said softly. "That's a 'plane,'"

"But how do we 'board' such a large creature?"

At this there was some chuckles from those who lived in the modern world. I blinked.

"It's a 'machine,' not a creature," Marik explained.

"'Machine?'"

"Yes, a machine,"

I murmured the new word a few times, but inside my head I was wondering what in Ra's name a 'machine' was. As far as I could see: someone had killed a bird and used a spell to bring it back to life only to have it mutate into that machine plane-creature—someone needed magic training!!

(I need some help finding inspiration for writing this story right now, so I have a challenge for all you creative people out there who like this story. Actually, ^^' I have a few challenges in hopes that it'll pull my inspiration back to focus. . . and they have no time limits—so take don't worry about anything being "late!")

(**Challenge One ["Oh Zy Mosh!"]:** Draw your favorite scene from my FanFiction so far.)

(**Challenge Two ["Bubble Bath Challenge" or "BBC"]:** Draw any of the characters you want taking a bath—I'd especially love to see how Megan and Little Mahy react to the faucet when they take their first bath or Shaadi trying to bathe the two lil' Second Ishtars.)

(**Challenge Three ["Trailer Trallenger"]:** Make a trailer for my FanFiction—for those of you video-making-addicts.)

(**Challenge Four ["Get Carried Away"]:** Want to get crazy with any YGO character ever seen on the show? Well then—get carried away!! Chibify, cartoonify, crazify, and crushify anyone you like! I'd like to see it. . .)

(**RULES:** No sexual themes or nudity and keep the language bleeped—this is a family story for any age. If you make any sexual-classed jokes make them so that kids cannot understand them, and if you do nudity of some sort use the black dot in certain areas—like for the BBC. Have fun—or else!!)

(**REWARDS?:** I'll think some up. . . however, you may want to wait a while to make any requests as I'm on a busy rush-rush right now.)


	13. Sibling Rivalry

**Dindy:** It's taking me sooo long! :'(

**Priest Mahado:** I think we've noticed.

**Dindy:** -Glares-

**Priest Mahado:** It's the truth, so don't get mad at me woman.

**Dindy:** I have an art request for whom-ever is willing! :D

**Priest Mahado:** -Anime sweat drops-

**Dindy:** Please post it on DeviantArt, so that it'd be easy for me to find if you do it though.

**Priest Mahado:** Well, what is it?

**Dindy:** -Blushes- Mahado's peaking out of a mystical hat that Shaadi was sitting on and Shaadi is flailing backwords. LOL!

**Priest Mahado:** . . .

**Chapter Thirteen: Sibling Rivalry**

As excited as I was, I ended up sleeping through-out the plane ride—how annoying—,however we ended up in a taxi after we left the second airport. In this new place there was no desert, but there was 'grass,' 'roads,' and 'sky scrapers.' I enjoyed the thrill of seeing the city very much. The place was absolutely beautiful!!

I heard Mahy laugh and looked over to him leaning over Dark's lap to look out the window. I glared at the two of them. Mahy had always been the better child and Dark's affection was proof; it made me very upset and very, very_ jealous_.

Mahado was smarter. Mahado was braver. Mahado was more social. Mahado was stronger. Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh! I hated it!! My own family out casted me before they died, saying that I was misplaced and didn't belong in their family. I wasn't very smart. I wasn't very brave. I wasn't very social. And, I was certainly not very strong.

Mahado looked just like our great ancestor Mahado—er, Dark—and it really made me mad. 'Grandfather' Dark was so stuck up on duty that it seemed to me that he didn't care if our souls ceased existing, and that's why I didn't like Dark for the moment. And, it only made it worse for me that he was more delighted to spend more time with Mahado than me—it was all he seemed to care about.

Mahado turned to look at me with the thrill of a new world and a new land over his face, and I just looked at him dully. My life stunk like a dung beetle, and somehow that overpowered my enthusiasm and excitement. Mahado pouted.

"Megan? Are you mad at me?" He asked.

How could I say yes? I didn't know how to tell him 'no,' and I didn't know how to lie to him. After a bit of pondering what to say, I just looked away from him. I heard Mahy start crying and Dark sigh. I was very glade when we arrived at the hotel that we were going to be staying at.

That's when something occurred to me: 'Why not try to get Dark to pay attention to me?' It sounded like a plan of sorts. Except, I didn't feel like I could out-due adorable little enthusiastic, brave, and cunning Mahado. . . but I knew that I had to try. And so the feud began.

When we got out of the taxis I immediately offered to help with the luggage—which was really hard to do, because all our stuff was really heavy—, but Mahado also wanted to help. I didn't argue with them when they let him, but it really didn't help me much. When we got inside I tried to help everyone put their stuff in order, but Mahy also helped. Marik lost his wallet and we all went looking for it, but little Maha ended up finding it.

Outdoing Mahado was very hard. What could I possibly do that he wouldn't be better than me at? Mahado was good at games, chores, school, and discovering things. I was good at drawing, singing, and writing. How embarrassing that Mahy got the better skills; I did not inherit any of the Ishtar traits.

At dinner time, Dark and Tom got into a fight—literally—and Mana had to break them up—it was over our mission. Tom did not agree with Dark that we should continue with our journey to save the world, but Dark thought that we were doing the right thing. After the first fight was broken up, Tom and Dark ended up arguing over whose side of the family was better. I got really mad when Dark said that his side was better because of little Mahado, and ended up leaving my plate behind not even half done.

At bedtime Marik made Mahado and I take a bath, brush our teeth, and put on our night gowns before we could go to bed. When we went off to our beds most everyone was already in a bed; Mahy jumped onto the bed that Dark was on and cuddle up next to him. 'Teacher's pet,' I thought jealously.

Tom walked over to us stretching his arms. He was wearing a red version of what Mahado was wearing earlier—I guessed he had nothing else to wear at the time or didn't feel like changing—and before he went off to bed he kissed Marik on the forehead and walked off. "Good night, son," He said.

Marik and I both blinked, then I sighed. Tom didn't say goodnight to me, but Marik did. Marik leaned down, pecked my forehead, and then shoed me off to bed. I yawned, even though I was not sleepy, and then climbed in bed.

Hours past and I couldn't sleep. I hummed to myself, as I was the only one who had my own bed. It kept me occupied for a while, but eventually I just got up and stuck outside through the open window. . .


	14. Technically Kidnapped

**Dindy:** Wow, I can't remember the time I last added like this.

**Priest Mahado:** That must be because you still use your fingers.

**Dindy:** -Shoves him playfully-

**Chapter 14: Technically Kidnapped**

There was a bunch of stairs and ladders to the ground, but I made it without anyone noticing me. I originally just wanted to get outside to escape the pain for a little while, but curiosity took my by the hand as soon as it did. The world had changed so much since my family had last seen the sky that it was breath-taking.

Before I knew it I had run off somewhere and was lost. "Hello?" I called out, but I knew that my language was foreign to this land that wasn't Egypt. I walked off to try and see if I could find where I was, but to no avail. After some time I found a 'park,' and went inside. It was very dark outside, but I was use to that sort of thing and quickly adjusted to the lack of light.

"Look brother, it's a little girl all by herself in the park. How odd!"

"How odd, indeed brother,"

I couldn't understand a word they said at the time, but I knew that they were talking about me somehow.

"Should we see if she's lost?" A slightly deep male voice.

"Brother, she _is_ lost. It's very obvious," A higher pitched voice.

"Well, maybe her mother's nearby?"

"Certainly not, mothers don't take their children out at this time of night"

"Stop disproving me, brother! I'm trying to think positive,"

"Well it's annoying me,"

"Hmph," The one with a lower pitch certainly didn't seem happy with his brother, but with that he stopped talking.

After some time they approached me.

"Hello child," The higher voice said. "I'm Para Meikyu, and this is my brother Dox," He gestured from himself to the other person. 'Para'—as I took his gesture as an introduction—was wearing black and orange, was bald and had dark grey-green eyes. 'Dox' looked almost just like his brother—almost as in he was dressed differently—and wore black and green instead of orange.

"Hello," I greeted in Arabic (a futuristic language taught to me by an adopted sibling) and gestured to myself after giving a short wave. "I'm Megan Ishtar," They talked for a bit, then Dox picked me up and they took me somewhere—I ended up falling asleep.


	15. Spoiled

Dindy: Hello peoples!

Priest Mahado: Yes, hello again everyone.

Dindy: ^-^ I'm back~! Dun-dun-du~n!!

Priest Mahado: Must you?

Dindy: Yes.

Priest Mahado: -Sighs- Dindella does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, if she did she might have made both Shaadi and myself main characters instead of all these other people. She doesn't own the Pharaoh either, but all you crazy FanGirls should stay away from him anyways—I know magic and he knows dueling, so be fair warned. Dindy doesn't own any of the characters in this story but mini-me and Megan, so far.

Dindy: And with that you may start reading this chapter—if you haven't already started—so stop reading what I'm saying. Stop it! I said stop it!! Cut it out already!!

**Chapter 15: Spoiled**

It was about eleven-ah-clock when I woke up the next morning and I didn't remember where I was—nor did I know at first. But, as I sat up in alert I noted my surroundings. I was in a blue bed and the walls in the room were painted blue, too. There was a window open next to the bed to my right—and another window that was closed to my left with a blue curtain over it—that let in the smell of plants from outside. Plant-smell was new to me; I was still use to sand and stone.

I was still in my blue night-gown that matched my eyes from the day before, which seemed to make the room color of no coincidence to me. I made myself slowly get out of bed to get a better look at the room—maybe I could figure out where I was? The blue carpet was soft and fluffy, but very low cut—carpets were still new to me, too. The window had a few plants sitting up on the sill; I didn't recognize the different types of flowers, but they were all blue like the room. Somehow, though, the room wasn't the slightest bit depressing—in fact, it was quite welcoming.

After looking out the window for a bit, I turned around to look at the rest of the room. As exciting as 'trees' were, I wasn't interested in them at the moment. There was pottery, ceiling decorations, and stuffed creatures that was of a totally different culture than my own. I didn't know more than what was from my family's beginning and that was definitely not from my teachings. The room had a lot of open space, but due to my size at the time it might have seemed smaller to an adult.

Various trees were set in each corner of the room, four trees in each of the bends. Some trees had flowers, others had an overload of leaves, some had mysterious fruits hanging off of them, and one of them had all three of those things. I knew that wherever I was: someone was obsessed with plants. It was kind of comforting to me for someone to have such passion for something that most people probably didn't even think twice for.

"Gasp! You're awake!"

I jumped and looked to the door that was in front of the end of the bed. It was one of the men I remembered vaguely from the night before—Para. He was wearing a robe of sorts that was orange and had fancy designs on it, and was carrying a tray with food on it. It kind of embarrassed me; I had never been spoiled like that before! Even when I was sick I would be forced to get out of bed and get my own meal, because children on _my_ side of the family were forced to be _tough_ because of the prophecy.

"Uh. . . yes," I said; still unknowing of what to think.

Para set the tray down on the end of the bed and I jumped back up onto the bed. After a bit I settled down on top of my knees and kind of just looked at him. I remembered not being able to speak to them just the night before, but, some how, overnight I learned how to speak their language.

"I see we speak the same language now. . ." Para commented. I ignored that statement at first.

"You're Para, right?" I asked.

"Yes. And you're 'Megan?'"

"Yes."

"English is a very valuable language to know; I'm glade my brother and I excelled at that when we went to school. However, whatever you spoke last night was very foreign to us,"

'English!! That's right! My dad was English and began teaching me the language before I could ever speak!' I thought, feeling satisfied inside; we were both speaking English—that's why we could communicate. 'But how'd he know that I know English?'

"But how'd you know that I speak English?" I asked him.

"We didn't—because of the language you were using last night—but we guessed that you might be able to because of your name,"

I blinked.

"'Megan' is a very popular American name," Para explained.

"The Americas!" I exclaimed with pure excitement. "That's where my dad told me he was from!"

Para sort of winced at the word 'dad,' but didn't hover on that long. "That's wonderful. . . where are you from?"

"I'm from Egypt; my family was a clan of keepers that protected the nameless pharaoh's legacy,"

He blinked. "Wonderful imagination child, but where are your parents?"

"They were murdered a week ago; right now I'm suppose to be living with my ancient cousins and Dark, but I don't want to be with them right now. . ."

"Okay. . .?" Para said; I realized that he didn't believe in virtually anything I was saying.

"Do I have to go back?" I asked.

Para thought about this for a bit, but eventually seemed to just not really care. "We'll decide later, however, you should eat. I hope you know how to use chopsticks; my brother and I made breakfast, but we don't have forks or spoons,"

"What's a 'fork'?"

Para blinked again, but didn't comment on that. Instead he smiled and showed me how to use chopsticks; they were very good cooks. Para teased me a few times; taking the chop sticks from me, getting a 'chop-full,' and pretending like he wasn't going to give it to me. I didn't mind much; I ended up laughing and trying to take it back—he won every time by default arm length and strength.

After breakfast, he took me downstairs to meet Dox. The house was beautifully exotic; it had the same mysterious culture touches, Japanese culture touches, variously scattered plants, 'paintings,' and lots of other different stuff. Colors of every shade decorated absolutely everything and an assortment of smells flourished the whole house—it was wonderfully foreign. I loved it.

Dox was taking a nap on a couch that was in the living room—boy the house was big!—and he seemed so tiny compared to the rest of the place. From the distance of the walls to the height of the ceiling, I was almost sure a small dragon could crawl in and take a nap there. I was busy gaping at everything and failed to pay attention—I ended up tripping on my own foot.

Para thought it was absolutely hilarious and the commotion he made woke Dox up from his nap—I made sure to get up quickly, though. Para was laughing so hard I though he'd fall down and Dox was just like: 'What's your problem?'—I felt so embarrassed.

It took Para a few minutes to catch his breath and regain his composure, but by then Dox had already took to himself to greet me again. Dox was wearing another robe, but his had slightly different patterns and was green—apparently, they enjoyed lounging in their robes. I complimented their cooking, despite Para's breathlessness and managed to explain to Dox where I was from. Dox and Para were quite different, even though they seemed so similar at first impression.

Dox believed me a little more than Para did. Dox was a bit less curious than his brother. Para enjoyed reading more than shopping, and Dox thought swimming was fun whilst Para thought it was a waste of time. Both of them, however, loved gardening and any type or style of martial arts and gymnastics.

When Para was done laughing I also noticed the difference in their sense of humor. Dox thought it was funnier if he saw it and Para would have laughed that hard whether it was being told to him or if he saw it. I almost wanted to roll my eyes when Para tried telling Dox what was so funny and ended up laughing again—so much for being laughed at by two people. I was glade Para couldn't talk about it without laughing!

Para and Dox were very nice, they spoiled me all day and all three of us had completely forgotten about taking me home. The next morning I got up at about eight and caught the both of them taking something; medicine was common back in Ancient Egypt, too, so I didn't really think about it very much. After breakfast they taught me how to peal fruit, grow certain things, and how to make a crane out of paper. I had lots of fun and learned more about them that day.

Para and Dox were from 'China' and had a very complicated past that they didn't want to talk about. Para's favorite food was oranges and Dox liked grass—he enjoyed laying in it mostly. They enjoyed wrestling each other, cooking, gardening certain weeds that they thought were pretty, board games, and dueling. Para loved exploring and discovering things, and Dox only tended to get interested if you actually did discover something. Para had an interesting collection of 'How To:' books and Dox had a wide collection of things he found at the store—Dox loved collecting more than he did buying.

I spent about four days total with the Paradox Brothers, before we remember that I had somewhere to be. But, I didn't want to go and refused to tell them the name of the hotel. "But, I love it here!" I argued. "I don't want to go back to my boring, lonely life-style!"


	16. Going 'Home'

Dindy: Hello peoplez!

Priest Mahado: -Yawns- It's almost eleven 'o' clock at night!

Dindy: And? –Yawns- Anyways, you'll be finding out why Mahado's being so mean to Megan later on.

Priest Mahado: I need more sleep.

Dindy: So do I, but you don't see_ me_ complaining.

Priest Mahado: -Sarcasm- Mm-hm. . . sure.

**Chapter 16: Going "Home"**

It didn't work to try and persuade the Paradox Brothers. Their minds were set and eventually they got the name out of me, and then dragged me home kicking and screaming. They didn't want to take me back by any means, but they knew they had to.

At first, I didn't realize how far away from Domino City we were, but we ended up having to take several means of transportation just to get back to the place. It seemed like they took me all the way to the other side of Japan—and boy were we tired by the time we got back to the city. I was on the verge of passing out, but they seemed only a little fatigued—so much for us all being tired. I sighed.

Para grabbed my hand and walked me to the front door, then Dox grabbed my other hand, Para let go, and then the green sibling led me inside. They were both back in their black with their favorite color outfits, instead of their robes, so they looked different to me. It was awkward.

"Has anyone been looking for this girl from here?" Dox asked.

The woman gasped. "Aw!" She exclaimed, climbing and hopping over the counter, then running over to me. "Dark and the rest of the family have been so worried about you!" She added some sort of sigh to Dark's name; it sounded like my crush on Shaadi. This lady obviously had a crush on my grandfather; how terrible.

"No offence, lady, but who are you exactly?"

"I'm Leena,"

"Stay away from Dark; he's taken,"

She kind of gaped at me a bit, then huffed and telephoned the room we were staying in. When I saw Tom, Marik, Odion, Ishizu, Mana, and Mahado I was baffled at how worried they had been, but what really baffled me was how Dark took it.

"He's been really sick since you've been missing; literally," Marik explained. "He thinks something awful must have happened to you because of him,"

I blinked. Dark was _worried_? About _me_?

"And who might you be?" Odion asked the Paradox Brothers.

"We are the Brothers Paradox," They answered in unison. "And you must be one of Megan's relatives?"

"Sort of," Odion replied. "I was adopted,"

"Still family," Tom commented; for a few moments everyone looked at him.

"Anyways, I'm Marik Ishtar,"

"Ishizu Ishtar,"

"Odion; it's a pleasure to meet you,"

"Tom Ishtar,"

"Mahado!"

"Mana Ishtar,"

"And you already know me," I concluded softly.

"Salutations; and who here is her father?" Para asked.

"He's been dead for about a week now," Mahado said.

Dox leaned down to look at Mahy. "Megan's sibling?"

"Uh-huh!" Mahado chirped, then pouted. "But she's been mad at me since we moved in with our ancient cousins and Dark showed up. I don't know what I did that was so wrong,"

"Yeah right!" I argued. "Dark likes you more than he likes me! He completely ignores me while you're around!!"

"But I'm not doing it on purpose!" Mahado cried.

I stormed off and went upstairs to the room. When I got there I heard the sounds of sobbing. . . I put my ear against the door. Yes, Dark was crying. It was then that I sat down on the floor by the door and listened quietly for the first time to my pounding heart. Dark loved me; he loved us. . . but why couldn't he show _me_?


	17. Important Info1

**Dindy:** THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER!

**Mahado:** But what it is. . . is important information you all need to know.

**Dindy:** So read up folks!

_**IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE!!**_

_**FIRST OFF**_**: Ancient **_**Character Statuses, Professions, and Placements.**_

Full Name: Mahado Ishtar

Status: High Priest

Appearance: Shoulder-length brown hair (right now it's to his waist, though), violet-brown eyes that have a tendency to glare blue, average tanned skin for an Egyptian, 6'1" (in this story), and is a very considerate weight for his height in muscle.

Personal Proffession: Tomb Guardian, Royal Guard Command (above the chief), and trainer/teacher for both mages and guards—certain guards he trains are also trained as mages.

Placement: Next in line as the Pharaoh's advisor if Siamon where to die before himself, because Shaada was not ready for the task at the time this decision was assigned.

--

Full Name: Ammon (AKA "Tom") Ishtar

Status: Partly Noble

Appearance: Back-length grey-silver hair, brownish-grey eyes that have a tendency to glare blue, very pale for an Egyptian, 6'1", and is slightly skinny in comparison to Mahado.

Personal Proffession: Dark magic

Placement: Lowly noble who's disgraced by many because of his appearance.

--

Full Name: Mana Ishtar

Status: In training for Mahado's status

Appearance: Brown crazy-ish messy-like hair, green eyes, same tan as Mahado's skin, and has always been a pretty girl (as fanboys around the globe know).

Personal Proffesion: Light and dark magic (to be explained later what I mean; before I would have never have known how to explain the differences but after reading PlasmaKnight's "Journey Through Light and Darkness" I've been inspired to a description)

Placement: Student, half-noble, high apprentice (basically, if Mahado dies then then she'd take over but Mahado has select students under her just in case something happens to her when he dies and she can't take his place)

--

Full Name: Karim Bes

Status: Highest Priest

Appearance: Black hair just past his ears with his bangs being pushed back by a golden head-ring, deep but soft green eyes, and a more than fine toned body from skin to muscle.

Personal Proffession: Agriculture, calander tracker, judge, doctor, and vet

Placement: Literally a helping hand with power

--

Full Name: Shaada Ptah

Status: Highest Priest

Appearance: He has natural black hair but he's bald with markings on his forehead in the show (NOTE: Because in this story Shaada is Shaadi. . . keep in mind that Shaadi has hair if you study pictures of him within the episodes carefully.), soul piercing blue eyes, with very fair Egyptian tanned skin, and a fine toned body. He's not as hefty as Karim, though.

Personal Proffession: Doctor (though he's gotten vetranary knowledge from Karim), Judge, and royal advisor after Mahado

Placement: Royal advisor after Mahado and a "fate burden"

--

Full Name: Seth (to reduce confusion between Seto and Seto, I've turned the priest into "Seth" as that name was common back then)

Status: Highest Priest

Appearance: Ear-length brown hair, deep sapphire eyes, fair tanned Egyptian, with a finely toned body similar to the state of Mahado's.

Personal Proffession: Judge (with an attitude.)

Placement: He's above Karim and Shaada within the Judge category, but he's also slightly above Mahado being a judge and all. However, Seth's not hight enough above Mahado to order him around (until Yami leaves, as he becomes Pharaoh afterwards).

--

Full Name: Isis Husn

Status: Highest Priestess

Appearance: Black hair to her shoulders, green eyes (she has green eyes in this story, okay? I believe they're actually blue or brown, though), fair Egyptian toned skin, and very lovely.

Personal Proffession: Prophetic ability (even without the necklace she knows certain spells and tricks that are no where near as powerful as the necklace)

Placement: She's not just a prophet; she's also one of the Pharaoh's close-hand protectors. She's one of the few who take turns being around him to make sure he stays safe.

--

Full Name: Akunadin

Status: Pharaoh's brother, highest noble, highest priest

Appearance: He looks just like the pharaoh Akunonkanon.

Personal Proffession: Most of Mahado's jobs were once his, but the stress began to seem to age him beyond his years and he became weak for a time. Mahado took them over without hesitation for Akunadin, so he's basically the person the other priests go to for receiving advice and help—Mahado and Seth especially went to him.

Placement: Right beneath Atemu; next in line if he were to die

--

Full Name: Atemu

Status: Pharaoh

Appearance: We all know what he looks like

Personal Proffession: Being the pharaoh and saving the world

Placement: Ruler of Egypt

_**SECOND OFF:**_** A "Highest Priest"**

A highest priest is very special, because it's a category that as far as I know I've made it. In actuality, back in Egypt there was lots of priests and high priests, but in the show we only got to see six. This made me think about why that is for a bit, so I came up with a wonderful reason.

Highests Priests are above all other Priests and only the Pharaoh of Egypt can appoint people as them. Highest Priests are heavily trusted, but they also have to have certain skills in common. All of them must be able to read and write (which would make them scribes), highly educated with near perfect grades, cast magic, and have been a peasant at one time (Akunadin is the ONLY exception to that rule). This would make them perfect to be next to the Pharaoh as they'd be wise, intelligent, understanding of pain and problems from being peasants, and able to use spells to help the Pharaoh in some way shape or form.

**Dindy:** Well, I had more two days ago when I first started typing this up. . . but I don't remember all that I wanted to type in now. Aw well. . .

**Mahado:** Anyways, Ammon's nickname of "Tom" will be explained into the story some time ahead of us. . . you didn't actually think his name was really "Tom" did you?

**Dindy:** Seriously. . . especially if you know me well enough. . . then you'd know I love coming up with nicknames and little interesting snehppets like "Pig-stye".

**Mahado**: -growls-

**Dindy:** And now to get out of here before Ammon comes over here with that lighter. . . –Sneaks away from the pyro-maniac and his brother-


End file.
